Process of producing filled bags



A. BATES PROCESS OF PRODUCING FILLED BAGS July 21, 1925. 1,546,360

orizinal Filed Oct. 6, 1919 I Patented July 21, 1925. V

UNITED STATES .PATENT- QFFICE.

ADELMER M. BATES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO BATES VALVE BAG COM-To all whom it may concern:

useful Improvement .ducing Eilled Bags,

IPAINY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

PROCESS PRODUCING FILLED BAGS.

Application filed October 6,

' Be it known that I, ADELMER M. BATES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in" the county --of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and in Processes of Proof which the follow-.ing is a specification.

My invention relates to a process of making and filling bags andparticularly to a process wherein the material to be filled into the bagis to. be weighed and particularly where the weighing consists in firstsupplying the bulk of materialneoessary to fill the bag and then insupplying a small fiow or,

supply to accurately complete the necessary and adapted filling. Theprocess is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in connection with adiagrammatic showing of an apparatus suflicient to carry out theprocess.

A is a roll of bag "ng material which is I preferably formed into a tubeby being folded around a former B, its two edges being sewed together bythe sewin ma-' chine G, to form the tube. The tu so formed on theoutside of such 0 linder B, is then carried up over the edge 0 thecylinder and down until it emerges as the tube D. Inside of the bag tubeis another guard or sup 1y or primary tube E which may form t e lowerprojection on the funnel E This funnel and tube E are normally filledwith the material to be fed into the bag, as indicated at E Preferablydl'SPOSed'Wfi/h' in the tube E is the rotary secondary filling tube orshaft E- properly moimted and supported, as, for example, in bearings E,

to be rotated by. means of the pulley E and the belt E thereon. On the.lower end of this feed tube E are the propeller flights E" whereby, whenthis feed tube is rotated, the material is forced downwardly, and, whenthe tube is. stopped, the material is supported against further descent.F is a feed device which may take the form of a rotary screen in thebottom of the funnel F On its shaft F is a pulley F adapted to be drive'n by the belt F. This screen or feed device is interposed between thefunnel F which is supplied with the material F and the open top of thetube tube, whereupon approximately the 1919, Seriatlh. 828,775. RenewedMay 6, 1925.

are mounted on and carried by. the supporting frame G". These fingersare normally in the elevated position shown in dotted lines, and theyare adapted, when they descend, to pass between the slats Gr of thescale.

I have-not shown the details of the mechanism or of the connections ofthe several parts, as the mechanism forms no part of this invention andis only here illustrated for the purpose of enablin me to explain theprocess, which process, liowever, can be carried out in part by hand orby a variety of apparatuses very difierent from those illustrated. I

S indicates the two needles and T the severing device, device beingproperly'associated and supported so that they move laterally acrossthebagtubeto form the closure for the top of the bag and the bottom ofthe tube and.- to sever the filled portion from the tube.

The use and operation of my may be illustrated in connection with theparts of the apparatus here shown is asfolows:

Assuming that the fabric, mounted on a suitable roll, has been broughtinto proper relation with the apparatus, it will be printed or marked asmay be desired, and, then formed-into a' bag tube by means of the sewingmachine which unites its edges. The printed matter will be so placedthat it willbe on the inside of the tube when firstformed outside theforming tube, and the seam, of course, will be on the outside of thetube. As'the process proceeds and the tubeis reversed, the longitudinalseam is brought inside and the printed matter outside. he operationcontinues until a short section of the bag tube extends below theforming the lower end of the tube is closed in any desired'manner. Thepacking flights are now rotated, preferably together with the secondaryfilling tube, whereupon they feed the material downwardly into theclosed end, of the tube and pack'it against such closed-end forcing thematerial and the bag tube downwardly until entire amount of material'desired in the bag has thus been fed and packed into the lower end ofthe tube. If the bag is to receive L00 pounds, we may assume that, atthis point, 98 pounds of inaterial have been fed lower end of the tube.

process as it and packed intothe have forced the lower end ofthe tubedownwardly to a distance about equal to the length of the bag to beformed, and here the lower end of the bag comes in contact with thefingers of the support or trip. It might I come in contact with thesefingers at any v a loose or puckered portion of the bag tube at a pointbetween the top of the bag to be formed and the end of the forming tube.The bag'js now resting on the scale which shows, for example, that 98pounds have been inserted. At this point by auto matic machinery or theaction of the operator the feed screen or sieve F is set in operation sothat a small feed of material takes place from the funnel E down throughthe feeding tube into the top of the bag, and, when the scale indicatesthat the 100 pounds or the total desired amount has been received, thesupply mechanism is stopped either by hand or automaticall The portionof'the tube above the filed bag portion is now brought-into properrelation to a preferably laterally traveling sewing machine and twoseams are run across it, followed by a severing device, so that thefilled bag is closed and severed from the tube and the lower end of thebag tube, is closed to form the bottom of the next bag, and theoperation then proceeds as before until the roll of fabric or the entiretube is used up. I prefer to make the tube from the fabric as theprocess of filling the bags is carried 'on, but it is quite-within myprocess to manufacture the bag tube in great length and to thread it upon the supply tube and then to fill as above stated.

"As will be seen from the above,-by this process I am enabled to fillthebulk of the material into the bag under pressure and to pack itagainst the bag walls while they are under tension. This produces a wellfilled compact package. At the same time, by 'relieving the tension onthe tube walls during the secondary operation, I am enabled to weigh thebag accurately, and the secondary feed, by which the necessaryadditional material is slowly sifted into the bag, does not materiallyaffect the weighing, so that packages of uniform weight can be obtained.Where the term sifting is employed in the claims, it relates to droppingthe material portion. I have used this term to indicatethat part of thetube, which after it has been cut,

orms the bag. It is, of course, not a separate bag until it has been cutaway from the tube, and, until it has been cut, away it is merely a bagportion of the tube. k

It is obvious that various changes within the scope of the appendedclaims-may be made in the process While retaining some of theadvantages.

j I claim:

1. The method of producing filled bags which comprises suspending a bagfrom above, filling the bulk of a charge of material into the bag whileit is sosuspended, then discontinuing the suspension and supporting thebag from beneath, and, while the bag is supported from beneath, weighingit and sifting into it the necessary additional amount to complete thecharge. a 2. The method of producing filled bags which comprises forcingthe material into a bag and packing it against the closed end of thebag, while resisting motion of the closed end by tension of the bagwalls, discontinuing the force feed and tension when the greater part ofa charge has been packed contents and loosely filling into the bag thenlecessary additional amount to complete the c arge.

3. The method of producing filled bags which comprises forcing materialin an annular stream against the closed end of a bag while resistingmovement of saidclosed end by tensibn of the bag walls, discontinuingthe annular stream and the tension on the walls when the greater part ofa charge has been packed into the bag, then weighing the into the bag,and then weighing the bag and bag, and contents and completing thecharge forcing an annular stream of material,

through the tube against the closed end and thus forcing the enddownward against the tension of the adjacent walls, discontinuing theannular stream and the tension when the greater part of a charge hasbeen packed into the tube against, its closed end and the adjacent tautwalls, then weighing the filled portion and sifting into it centrallythe ad- .ditional material necessary to complete a charge, and thenclosing and severlng the tube to form a separate package.

5. The method of filling and closing bags which comprises forcingmaterial, in an annular stream only, into the bag in a direc tion axialofthe bag until the greater part ofacharge is inserted, and then weighinthe bag while adding, centrally of the bag only, additional materialnecessary to complete the charge, and then clo'sinigl the bag.

6. The method of producing 'lled bags .which comprises progressivelypacking ma- 5 terial into a bag, pressing each successive incrementagainst material previously in the bag, furnishing resistance to themovement of the material in the bag, in response to the pressure of theadded increments, by tension of the walls of the bag, until the bulk ofa desired charge is inserted in the bag, then relieving the tension onthe bag walls, resting the partially filled bag on a weighing device;and completing the fillin of the-bag by dropping material into it whll'eit is resting on the weighing device.

7. The method of producing filled bags which comprises progressivelypacking material into a bag, pressing each suc cessive increment againstmaterial previously in the bag, furnishing resistance to the movement ofthe material in the bag, in response to the pressure of the added incre:ments, until the bulk of a desired charge is inserted in the bag, thendiscontinuing sai resistance and restmg the partially filled bag on aweighing device, and completing the filling of the bag by droppingmaterial into it while it is resting on the weighing device. Intestimony whereof, I affix my slgnature in the presence of two witnessesthis 17th day of September 1919.

v ADELMER M. BATES. Witnesses MILDRED H. -MAokE, EDITH L. PORTER.

